THE communities of Kilmore, Wandong, Heathcote Junction and Clonbinane have erupted with rage following multiple weeks of increased, unplanned and prolonged power outages affecting the townships.
Simmering restlessness came to a head on Tuesday night when power was cut around 9pm for more than 5000 residences across 10 towns. Some remained without power for in excess of three hours.
Asked about what caused the outage, an AusNet spokesperson said there was an equipment fault on the local network. This reportedly tripped the Kilmore East substation circuit breaker, meaning many of those who rely on the substation for power were plunged into darkness.
Much like their neighbours Wallan and Hidden Valley, residents of these areas aren’t strangers to an outage or two, but four major outages in the past two weeks have kicked up discussions around the area’s reliability and safety.
Wandong resident Jo Beckett, who has an extensive history of working and volunteering with vulnerable people in the community, said the focus should be on the area’s most at-risk demographics who are disproportionately affected by outages.
“Yes, there’s an inconvenience to businesses, but for me, the major risks are our vulnerable folk in the community,” she said.
“We are going to end up with some major accidents.”
She pointed to the “huge number” of people who rely on CPAP machines and other power-reliant devices in the community whose health is in jeopardy when there is an outage.
According to census data from 2021, the Kilmore-Kilmore East area is disproportionately older than the rest of the Mitchell Shire. Nearly 13 per cent of the total population in the Kilmore area is above the age of 70 compared to the overall percentage of the shire which sits at 8.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Wandong-Heathcote Junction district has its own ageing population, with trends showing larger percentages of residents older than 60 and a reduction in the 18-59 age range.
The area also saw a 35 per cent increase in the number of residents who reported needing help in their day-to-day lives due to disability between the 2016 and 2021 censuses.
This data is exactly what concerns Ms Beckett, who has become somewhat of a spokesperson for the Wandong, Heathcote Junction, Clonbinane Neighbourhood Group on Facebook. She said she has been “inundated” with calls at all times of the day from people, often elderly, who have shared their stories.
“I spoke to a lady last night who’s 89 and lives alone. She was walking up the passageway with a candle and she tripped over a shoe and fell over,” Ms Beckett recounted on Thursday morning.
“She goes ‘thank goodness the candle fell on the hard floor and not the carpet, otherwise I would have had a fire’.”
Alongside her assistance in the community, Ms Beckett has compiled a detailed email that has been sent to AusNet to demand further transparency on the issues plaguing her area.
Others in the community have already received outage reports after requesting further information for their own properties, with a resident of Kilmore’s Kingsgate Village receiving a report that indicated five outages in the past three weeks, all relating to ‘feeder trips’.
Others who have been in contact with the Review have reported more outages in this period, agreeing that the issue has certainly picked up in recent times.
The AusNet spokesperson confirmed that they are aware of the increased number of outages, blaming them on “a combination of network faults and environmental factors”.
“AusNet understands concerns around the disruption caused by recent power outages across the Mitchell Shire and we apologise for the impact to the community,” they said.
“We are continuing to investigate the recent pattern of interruptions and are actively working to identify any further opportunities to improve reliability in the area.”
AusNet is required to compensate households if they don’t meet guaranteed service levels (GSLs).
Its website says that the GSL payments will be automatically credited to your quarterly electricity bills if eligible, and payments vary depending on length and frequency of outages.
To find out more about the compensation payments that may be available to you, visit AusNet’s ‘Guaranteed Service Levels’ webpage.
Council addresses outages
Ms Beckett called on both AusNet and the Mitchell Shire Council (MSC) to do more for those in need, showing specific concern about the lack of assistance available to them.
“There doesn’t seem to be any risk mitigation strategies that have been put out by AusNet or council to ensure that these folks are safe,” she said.
Meanwhile, the council’s CEO Mary Agostino said the MSC has been actively advocating to AusNet as these issues have emerged.
“This includes raising the needs of vulnerable residents, highlighting the implications for emergency management during repeated outages, and outlining the economic impacts on local businesses and community organisations,” she said.
“We continue to push for improved reliability, clearer communication and stronger planning for our growing region.”
But MSC Deputy Mayor Councillor Timothy Hanson went further to call on AusNet for immediate action, saying “locals deserve better”.
“Constant power outages simply don’t cut it, and the frustrations being raised across the community need to be taken seriously and addressed by AusNet,” he said.
With no obvious fix in sight and calls for transparency so far falling on deaf ears, some residents have taken on the responsibility to look after the vulnerable people in the communities they live in.
Heathcote Junction resident Annie Daley has sprouted the idea of organising ‘power outage kits’ for senior residents across the affected areas.
These kits would include blankets, a torch and spare batteries along with other helpful items for those who find themselves especially vulnerable to these outages.
“I am aiming for these kits to go to the seniors in our community that rely on power-driven heating and are at risk if the power goes out,” Ms Daley said.
“If we get a surplus of kits we can then widen to others.”
Warmed by the interest shown by people to assist her with this project, Ms Daley added that once the kits are ready, she will be asking the community to nominate seniors that could benefit.
If you are looking to assist Ms Daley with her project, you can donate yarn or join the group who is planning to knit/crochet the blankets for the kits by calling or texting her on 0409 193 467.
